This last Friday morning (Oct. 26) we woke up early to pack our stuff after a long and late night of partying at Casablanca (a nightclub a good distance away from where we live in Nairobi). In about 20 minutes I managed to utilize my superpowers to shower, get dressed, pack, and be at the Taxis outside. We headed to the US Embassy for a Town Hall Meeting / Security Briefing. It was interesting to see the group of Americans living and/or working in Kenya. I got the impression that many were missionaries or aid workers here to “save Africa”. Most of the crowd was older, and there was nobody our age outside of our group. Mostly they talked about they way the embassy is operating, the upcoming elections, and a strong optimism for Kenya. It was interesting to get a little insight into the cooperative efforts the ambassador is involved with (i.e. several ambassadors to Kenya from major countries got together not long ago to lay out a set of standards for the elections in order for it to be an internationally respected and dignified process). We left a little early to head to Wilson Airport (a very small airport just outside Nairobi) to catch our flight on AirKenya to Lamu.

Based on the readings prior to the trip, I expected a lot of history. Lamu was for a period of time the trading hub of East Africa. Boats would come from all over Asia (including the Middle East) and Europe to trade. It is the birthplace of the Swahili people and language (in that the Swahili people were the result of inter-marriage among the Bantu and Cushite peoples – Bantus being a native African group and Cushites being of Arab-influence). I expected a predominately large Muslim population. And also I expected, because of the tourism and it being hailed as a celebrity hot-spot, a very developed/expensive shore-front and nightlife.

Our plane landed at the airport on Manda Island (across from Lamu island (Lamu is an archipelago). We traveled by Dhow(a traditional wooden sailboat once used to travel across the Indian Ocean) across the water to Lamu town where we walked down a small ally to the Stone House Hotel just a ways up. We were greeted by the staff and management with Coconuts to drink (which were a bit bitter compared to the ones we had a few days later). While everybody was working out room arrangements I stepped outside to talk to some of the staff and KJ’s friend Satan. We headed up to our rooms and dropped our things. Victor (who was my roommate for the weekend) and I went upstairs to the restaurant and sat down and chatted it up with Nafisa, the new manager and owner of Stone House. She is from Ethiopia originally, met an Italian man in Somalia, married and lived in Bologna with him for about five years, and has since lived in Nairobi for about 15 years. She moved to Lamu last February to start running Stone House, while her husband travels around for his work with an Italian NGO. We hit it off right away and had several great discussions throughout the weekend. Victor and I headed out to explore a little bit, walking up and back down the main street on the waterfront. The streets smelled strongly of the Donkeys (the predominant form of transportation outside of walking and Dow). Most everybody I saw was wearing the traditional Muslim/Arabic white robe (I don’t know how to call it – Anthony you can help me out with that one). We stopped at a small restaurant called Hapa Hapa where I had the best orange juice I ever had. We stayed there and people-watched and chatted a bit. I left to see what people were doing for dinner, and found everybody on the roof of the hotel getting henna done. I left with a group of people to an Italian restaurant down the waterfront (which was mediocre). On the walk back I stopped to two partially veiled Muslim girls that stopped dead in their tracks after hearing me say hello in Kiswahili/Sheng. One invited me to her house, and I told her maybe tomorrow afternoon. We exchanged numbers, and I thought innocently of the whole situation until KJ suggested the next day they may have been prostitutes – which completely surprised me. Later down the strip a group of students were at Hapa Hapa and we stopped. I stayed outside and started a chat with three beach boys, two of which were nephews of KJ’s friend Satan. I introduced them to some of the group (2 girls of which got irrationally mad at me for giving their names out, which I thought was absolutely stupid). A few of us went along with them to Petley’s (a rooftop bar on the strip), for a few drinks and a show put on by a group of Mombassa acrobats. From there an even smaller group of us went to the “disco” which I was told was “not far” and the happening place to be at night. I was getting frustrated with the slow pace of things without doubt. The “disco” was quite a bit away and it was just a cement block with a sound system and a disco ball. Not feeling it I stepped outside and met a girl named Jenny from Wisconsin who was here for a study-abroad semester last semester and decided to take this semester off to stay and work with street-kids cleaning them up and getting them some of the basic education and skills they need to be able to sustain themselves.

The next day we took a ride on the Dhow as a program to Manda Island across the way to spend the day at the beach. I tried to stay out of the sun so spent most my time up at the bar talking with Satan, played a little beach Frisbee with Alan, Alfred (KJ’s boyfriend), and Satan, and took a walk with Rachel exploring the rest of the island. From there we had lunch on the beach (rice with a vegetable-type sauce that was great, and fresh fish which I did not partake in). Victor and I played some soccer on the beach with some of the beach-boys and the crew of our boat while the girls were getting more henna. We boarded the Dhow and went to the opposite side of Lamu Island to the Takwa ruins. The people of that village/town had moved there because it was largely hidden and they could be prepared for attack (good lookout over the open waters and very hidden). The most intact part of the ruins was the mosque, outside of which was the biggest tree I’ve ever seen in my life called the bao bao tree. What was interesting was that the mosque pointed directly to Mecca, which has since been proven using technology. Apparently they could just tell at the time they were building using the stars. The accuracy of things from the past that today we rely so heavily on technology for just amazes me. Anyways, on our way back we stopped at Shela beach (the more expensive and fancier part of Lamu) to grab drinks before heading home. That night Victor, Alan, Nafisa, and I ate together at the restaurant on top of the hotel (of course politics dominated the discussion of the night). Somehow shisha and hookah came up in conversation and Nafisa mentioned she had a few hookahs her daughter bought for her that had never been taken out of the box. We went with her after dinner and put one together and took it to the top of the hotel where we smoked shisha, talked, and enjoyed the scenery (and the full moon).

Sunday I slept in and woke up around 11 planning to swing by Shela beach where I knew some of the girls went for the morning. On my way out I ran into Elizabeth who told me our group meeting time got pushed back an hour so we wouldn’t have enough time. So she and I went to one of the back main streets and got grilled meat on a stick and passion juice off the street (10 /- for each stick of meat, and I think it was 10 /- for a glass of juice – a very cheap and good lunch). She went her own way and I walked off on my own exploring, through the streets, up to the center of the island where all the homes were and there was a little area of palm trees. I headed back to the water-front where I ran into Sammy, one of the beach boys from Hapa Hapa. He and I grabbed a beer at Petley’s and chatted for a long while, later joined by Victor, before we had to meet to go on our group trip for the day. Sammy and his brother Edwin are actually Kikuyus from the farms not far away. Edwin actually told me the story the next morning about how the Swahili/Lamu people had owned the farms originally, but after independence President Kenyatta asked them if they needed assistance with the farms such as machinery, tractors, diggers, etc. Well they essentially got tricked/forced into giving their farms up to the Kikuyu people that Kenyatta sent up there. So primarily because of this event, there is a tension prevalent between the Kikuyu people and the Swahili people in Lamu that both Edwin and Sammy have said they’ve felt. Sammy told me that he completed Class 8 in school and left because of money. He works as a beach boy organizing trips for tourists and, from this, he gets a commission from the captain of the ship or hotel or whatever the case may be. He is wary about his life in Lamu and wants to move to seek better work. He did fishing for a while, but didn’t like it. He doesn’t want to go back to farming. He told me later that night he was thinking about learning how to build the Dhow boats, but his brother Edwin told me it was very unlikely because it’s so competitive and they want experience.

Around 2 in the afternoon we met the group at the pier and headed off to Matandoni village to visit a woman’s group started there along with the local primary school. I think KJ and I both felt that our questions about the politics around women’s advancement were skirted around, but I did get the answer that the politics exist and the women do face it. The focus we saw was on teacher sewing skills. The girls would come into a 2 year program where they would learn to sew and stitch. After the program, if they showed promise they would be able to rent a machine to take to their home. The problem is, though, they women rely on donations to get fabric. Additionally, they do little to no marketing so I don’t see how it establishes a sustainable lifestyle. Upstairs the center had built a nursery school (of which I have some pictures) for children from the community to learn some basic things before going to the primary school. We went to the primary school after visiting the women’s center and we were bombarded by children. The school faces many challenges, including a growing enrollment with little space or teachers to spread the students out. We were greeted with song and dance that we participated in. It was an interesting experience. Oh and it was here we had very good coconuts! Later in the evening I went on a night boat ride to Manda Island with some of the beach boys I’d met and Elizabeth. Everybody from the program had “other things to do”. The beach was so amazing at night. It was after high tide so the sand looked untouched and blended into the waters. We took some beers and sat out on the beach for several hours before heading back.

Monday morning I went to the Lamu museum with Alfred and we got a guided tour. It was amazing to see the history of the island the blend of cultures from all around the world from trade. It was then that I finally got oriented looking at the map on the wall as to where we actually were and where all the places we visited were relative to each other. To think that such intense globalization was taking place here as early as the 9th century is absolutely amazing.

In terms of my expectations, I was a little surprised at the lack of nightlife. I definitely packed with the idea I would be at nice places, in nice company, and spending a bit of money. I think I expected more of a Shela beach environment on the waterfront of Lamu Town. Instead, it was very much untouched and not developed particularly for tourists. The smell of the donkeys was a little unsettling at times. Also, I was surprised when Edwin and Sammy told me they were Christians. I asked Satan about the Christian population and he told me there were at about 25%. Overall, it wasn’t the romantic vision I had (I’ll admit, although the pictures capture a nice image), but it was amazing to think about the hustle and bustle when the island was in its prime as the trading hub of East Africa. There is definitely a lot of history, and the people are very slow and laid back…and lazy…which can be good or bad depending.

In Other News

We are nearing the end of mid-terms at USIU. I had one last Tuesday and this Tuesday. I have a Swahili mid-term on Thursday. The program, I feel, is going through a strange phase and relationships seem to be somewhat dissipating. Hopefully, things start to look up and get better in those regards.

Sadly, we got news this last weekend that Game Trackers, the safari company we took to Turkana, got held up once again and Kwell (our cook) was shot and killed. He was an amazing chef and an amazing person. He will forever be remembered by all of us that went on that trip and let his death not be in vain.